Rust Busters
White Pine Blister Rust Resistance Meeting
Rust Busters 2007
Rust Busters 2007 will be held July 23-27 in Idaho.
more information
The group meets to discuss progress to date regarding development of durable resistance for white pine species and addresses the question, "where do we go from here?" Although Rust Busters deals primarily with white pine blister rust resistance and genetic variation in the causative pathogen, Cronartium ribicola, the group welcomes information sharing from other forest tree resistance programs, notably other tree rusts.
History
Rust Busters was started in 1989 by Rob Mangold, formerly the Geneticist at Dorena Genetic Resource Center, and meets as an informal group about every two years.
The initial Rust Busters meeting was held at Dorena Genetic Resource Center in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Since then, meetings have been held in British Columbia, California, Idaho, and Wisconsin, and again at Dorena.
Participants
Rust Busters participants include those actively involved in white pine blister rust resistance work and others working with resistance responses of forest trees. In addition, researchers with interests in molecular biology tools and their application in resistance development have attended.
Typically 15 to 25 people attend. Although the majority is from western North America, some attend from eastern Canada, Maine, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
Format
Rust Busters typically consists of informal meetings as well as field trips. The meetings take the form of roundtable sessions bringing everyone up to speed on topics of interest to the group. Discussion is heavily encouraged, including differing ideas. There are few, if any formal presentations. The fieldtrips allow the group to see specific items that set the tone for further discussions.
The meeting provides an opportunity to initiate collaborative projects. In the past we have also sought to work out some common terminology.
There is usually no registration fee and no proceedings. We may opt to include photos or summaries of the meeting on the Rust Busters website.
